Randal Lennux, the unstoppable Judas, patrolled the city streets, accompanied by twelve loyal dogs.  That’s really all they were, dogs with guns.  The unit would follow Lennux’s orders without question.  They would shoot themselves in the head if he told them to.  They could not think for themselves, but at least they knew how to fight, and that’s what Lennux really wanted in his divine troupe.

            Sunlight had died almost an hour ago, and landscape was black.  In the shadows, the buildings looked much more imposing than they did in the daylight.  The network of rope bridges which connected several levels of each structure was hardly visible from the ground.  An occasional soldier, maintenance worker, or priest would cross one of the overpasses.  Several had lights strung along their ropes, and Lennux could see movement.  The divine followers were busily at work to appease their angry god and earn passage to a paradise that did not exist.  Randal Lennux was his own god and his reward was what he could take.

            The patrol moved quietly through the grounds of the compound.  If not for the engines, there would be no noise and the troops would have perfectly blended into the night like vengeful spirits.

            Though almost invisible against the backdrop of black, the unit could be spotted by any attackers that looked hard enough.  Motion was always easy to spot in the darkness, which was why Lennux had wanted snipers posted at every building, watching and waiting.  The messiah, in his infinite wisdom declined the request, saying “let them come.  Their attack will fail.”

            The bastard.

            One day, Lennux would personally take the messiah’s head, and claim the throne.  His own personal godhood was great, but how grand would it be to make it official.  Oh the power of having others shudder under his feet, in fear of his wrath.  To drive others to stark terror at the image of him calling down fire from the sky, and causing tidal waves of blood.

            Now a group of rats wanted to take that away from him.  They wanted to kill the messiah before Lennux could have his chance, and their all powerful messiah was going to let it happen.  Sometimes he wondered if their messiah was actually legitimate.  If he was, did the messiah know of Lennux’s plans?  He would sacrifice himself before he’d let a Judas take power.  Well this Judas was not going to let that happen without a fight.

            Again, the Judas looked over the horizon.  Again there was nothing out of the ordinary, but Lennux knew the rats would come.  When they did he would be there to drown them.

*

            Sam slowed the sports scar when he spotted lights ahead.  The city was still about ten miles away, but Sam did not want to approach too quickly.  He was not looking forward to this part of the mission.

            The sports scar was moving on a concrete overpass, but in a bout two minutes Sam was going to take the next exit, leaving the bridge behind.  Whoever was guarding the place was likely to be watching all of the main roads even more closely than they would the other roads.  Now that the cultists had lost several of their own to unfriendly fire, they would be watching their base even more thoroughly than before.  Slipping into the base unseen would be a hell of a task, but Sam knew his men could pull off the job.

            “Okay boys,” Sam said.  “I want one last weapons check.  Make sure those arms are good to go before we step out.”

            “Yes sir,” both soldiers said.

            Paul was in the front passenger seat, straining to read a road map with a cigarette lighter in his left hand.  Behind, Zach was double checking his shotgun and rifle.  Neither of the troops seemed too concerned about the endeavor on which they were about to embark, but Sam knew better.  All three of them had years to practice concealing their fear.

            Sam himself had lost some of his steam since last night’s disaster, but he felt himself starting to shift gears back into total bad ass for the mission ahead.  Sam was going to have to be tough to get through this one.  Even if the mission went well, they were still probably going to have to kill some live human beings face to face.

            There was no telling how well trained these guards were going to be.  The patrol they had encountered the night before may have just been young rookies, but the cultist’s army had to have some real muscle.  Otherwise they would not have been able to pull off such a successful assault on the colony.

            Earlier, Helen had mentioned a unit called the Black Angels.  The thought of an elite force of psychotics scared Sam more than anything he had encountered before.  No amount of zombies, looters, drug dealers, or hopped up speed freaks had ever instilled this much dread.

            Sam hoped his police training was enough to get his men out of this alive.

            “Alright, keep your eyes peeled for patrols,” Sam said.

            Turning the wheel, Sam eased onto the exit ramp, and down a small spiral.  When he reached the merge lane at the bottom of the ramp, old habit kicked in and Sam checked his rear view mirrors and blind spot before moving into the traffic lane.

            Moving at a clam thirty-five miles an hour, Sam kept his eyes on the road incase any ghouls were prowling.  The sports car did not have the build of their jeep, and probably could not take the constant bombardment of undead bodies against the grill.  Besides, Sam did not want to attract unwanted attention.

            Before society collapsed the area they passed through had probably been one step above a demilitarized zone.  All of the buildings were old, and had been in poor condition twenty-two years ago.  The windows were all boarded up, and some of the buildings had collapsed from years of water damage and the lack of care.

            For a moment Sam wondered what the rebuilding process would be like when the dead stopped coming back and the ones walking were sent back to their graves for good.  Reconstruction would probably be more of a nightmare than the apocalypse had been.  Maybe an early death as a hero was not such a bad thing after all.  Sam almost chuckled at the thought.

            “I see a few of them to our left,” Paul said.

            The soldier pointed his finger out of his window.

            “Well damn, there’s three more,” Sam said.

            Another two zombies stepped into the road, and Sam had to swerve to avoid colliding with them.

            Zach cocked his shotgun, ready to shoot anything that approached.

            “Hold steady,” Sam said.  “We don’t want to make any extra noise.  There’s no telling what else is around here.”

            Zach nodded, but kept his shotgun and rifle out.

            Sam made a right turn, and entered a narrower back road.  The highway they had been traveling before was too open.  This road had been a one way street, and Sam was driving the wrong way.  There were a few vehicles on the sides of the street.  The ones discarded there were either wrecked beyond repair, or had been in poor shape before the town had evacuated.  From the look of the scene, most of the townsfolk had left or the cars that were not wrecked had been stolen.

            Squinting at the road map, Paul looked for their next road.  Finally, Paul said: “Take the next left and keep going straight.”

            “How far are we?” Sam asked.

            “About five miles.”

            “Good, right on schedule,” Sam said, hoping he sounded sincere.

            Out of habit, Sam flicked the left turn blinker on.  Luckily, the break lights, reverse lights, and turn indicators had been disconnected so no light gave their position away.  The headlights were still active, but Sam had those off through the whole trip.  Not only did he want to be invisible among the shadows, but Sam also wanted his eyes to be accustomed to the darkness.

            Without any artificial light to give them away, Sam drove through the lonely road in silence.  Their only company had died years ago, and they were only out in small numbers.  The quiet engine did not wake any of the flesh eaters.  Only a few even noticed the sports car.  None of the ghouls who spotted the intruders threw rocks at vehicle or tried to stop it.  They only made a half hearted and defeated attempt at a chase.

            They’re not even trying to catch us, Sam thought, wondering if it was a bad omen.

            This road did not have a single shop occupying any of the corners, but was instead lined with old row homes.  The chain link fences cordoning off the front yards were still mostly intact.  Several dead street lamps stood at corners, no longer chasing away the shadows.  Only one of them had collapsed, and it was safely out of the street, and lying in a yard.  A chain link fence had been obliterated by the impact.

            Sam took in a deep breath.

            Though the night air was not overpowered by the stench of death, it was far from fresh.  There were several corpses out and about, and with them around the smell was always awful.

            Most of what Sam saw his whole way down the road was much of the same.  About a mile down, the roadside shifted from town homes to small shops.  The roadside was empty in a few places.  Then the town homes started again.

            When they only had about three quarters of a mile left, Sam turned right entering an alley.  There were a few other cars discarded in the brick tomb, so Sam pulled his car behind those.  The sports car would hardly be visible from the street.  With other cars in the alley, there was nothing conspicuous about it.

            Sam turned the ignition switch off, and looked at his troops.  “Alright, there’s no telling what we’ll see out there, so keep frosty.  Remember no guns until they spot us.  And no torches, they won’t do any good against the soldiers.”

            Zach and Paul both removed their torches from their gear, and set them down on the floor.  Sam did the same.

            “If we see any zombies, just club them to death, and try to outrun them.”

            “The zombies I can handle, it’s the gun toting psychos I’m worried about,” Zach said.

            “Alright, let’s have no more of that shit,” Sam said.  “I want both of you to be on your game.  This isn’t a cake walk food run, this is the real thing.  Let’s move!”

            At the same time, all three soldiers opened their doors and jumped out of the car.

*

            When the mustang was three miles from the cultists’ lair, Helen pressed on the break.  When the speed dropped from an excess of ninety miles an hour to just under forty-five, Helen took the closest exit from the main highway and pulled onto another one.

            “In a couple of minutes, we’ll hit a channel of back roads that circles around the compound,” Helen explained.

            Jack nodded.

            “I want to see if they’ve stepped up security.”

            “I’m sure they have,” Jack said.

            “I’m not.  Calhoun’s one cocky son of a bitch.”

            “Do you think he might bait us into a trap?”

            “That whole damn base is a trap.  Chances are when they knew we’re in, there’s no coming out.”

            Shit! Jack tough.

            “What do you mean ‘no coming out?’”

            “Just that.  When they know we’re in, the bastards’ll swarm our position.  If we can get out of the building, they’ll be on our ass the whole way out.”

            Jack said nothing.  He drastically wanted to change the subject.

            A breeze drifted between the open windows of the mustang, taking long strands of Helen’s hair for a joy ride.  The night air was cool, and felt good against Jack’s face compared to the oppressive heat of the day.

            The air on the beltway had been pretty fresh.  Nothing had died there in years, so the stench of death was no longer a problem, but the air on this highway was rotten.  There were several small shops, hotels, and gas stations lining the street sides.  There were also some condemned buildings.

            In front of one of the abandoned structures, Jack saw three ghouls congregating.  They wore rags which had once been tight, skimpy clothing.  All three ghouls were female, and were wearing high heels.  Zombie prostitutes, Jack never thought he would see the day.

            Around the gas station, a few zombies were loitering.  One was had removed a pump handle, and was staring at it.  Another was wandering away from a convenient store, wearing a ski mask.  Several others sat, or lied down by liquor stores, bars, and a strip club.  A family of zombies was standing around a restaurant.  Another zombie was trying to open a car door.  Another zombie pounded at the window of a deli.  There was a long line of zombies outside of a movie theater.

            “Shit, this place is crawling with them!” Jack said.

            “Don’t worry, they won’t bother us unless we slow down, stop, or make a lot of noise.”

            “Is it going to be like this the rest of the way?”

            “No, when we get closer there will be almost none of them.”

            Strangely, the thought gave Jack no comfort at all.  Afraid to ask any more questions whose answers he did not want to know, Jack kept his mouth shut.  He stopped looking out of the window too.

            Instead of looking outside, Jack concentrated his gaze on Helen, trying to make out her expression through the darkness.  All he could see was her silhouette.  Jack wondered what was going on in the girl’s head.  Did she really believe they were heading off on a suicide mission?

            The thought frightened the hell out of Jack.  He had never taken part in any kind of mission where there was only a slim chance of coming back.  Even this one was supposed to be a snatch and grab.  Eight soldiers would have been enough to navigate through hordes of the undead, if they were only grabbing one item.  The possibility of hostile soldiers had not been considered.  Now they were about to move into the heart of the madmen’s lair.  They would be surrounded by soldiers who were not only trained, but raised to kill.  And Helen, who had lived among them and knew them inside out, said there was almost no chance of escape.

            “Okay, we’re only about a half mile away from the perimeter,” Helen said.  “I want to get out and do some scouting.  If we see any zombies, don’t use your rifle or torch.  I don’t want the noise and light giving us away.”

            “Well what do we use?”

            “Behind your seat, there should be some extra silencers.  Your extra sidearms you picked up will be threaded for them.”

            Jack unbuckled his safety belt and reached back and felt around the floor.  After a moment, Jack’s finger tips moved over something rectangular and metallic.

            “Found it,” Jack declared.

            “Good.”

            The mustang gradually slowed, and finally came to a full stop.

            Jack grabbed the metal box with both hands, and turned around to sit upright.  The mustang was surrounded by still shadows.

            “Where are we?” he asked.

            “In an alley.  The car should be hidden pretty well.  I don’t think they’ll be out looking, but just to be safe...”

            “You said they’d burn the city down to look for us last night.”

            “I bet they did.  Right now I don’t see anyone looking around here.  They either don’t think we know where they are, or they’re waiting for us to come in,” Helen said.  “Now screw one of those silencers on a sidearm and come with me.”

            “Yes ma’am.”

            “And pack a spare.”

            Jack did as he was told.

            Helen got out of the mustang, and Jack followed.

            “See that apartment building over there?” she asked.

            “Yeah.”

            “That’s where we’re headed.”

            “No dice.  That place’ll be infested.”

            “We cleaned up most of the lepers within a mile of the complex when we first got here.”

            “If you say so.”

            Both soldiers began walking to the apartment building.  Jack had his M-16 combat rifle slung over his shoulder, and Helen’s modified hunting rifle was over hers.  They both had their muffled pistols drawn.

            Jack kept a watchful eye on the street around them.  Though he could not make out any real details in the darkness, Jack could see if there was any movement.  The open space in the street was clear, but Jack could not make out anything in the alleys or shops.

            If anything was lurking in the night, it was concealed well.

            Helen had moved a few yards ahead of Jack, so he jogged for a second to catch up.  Her hair was waving around in the wind.  She seemed very focused, not to concerned about the alleyways and stores around her.

            After several missions where he had broken through crowds of zombies, and moved around abandoned buildings to see them hide in impossible places, Jack would never be able to break the habit of looking over his shoulder in the open.  Especially not at night.

            Helen began moving a bit faster, so Jack also quickened his pace.  They were less than twenty yards away from the structure now.

            “This building hasn’t been secured so we can enter through the ground floor,” Helen announced.

            “I’d rather not, if a few of those things are in there we won’t be able to see them,” Jack said.

            Though Jack would not be able to see anything moving around in the darkness, the undead seemed to have perfect night vision.  If a squeaky floor did not give the ghoul away, neither Jack nor Helen would hear the danger.  That was a situation Jack did not want to stumble into.

            “You’re right,” Helen said, “The building is ten stories high.  We should be able to get a good view from the rooftop.  The fire escape goes all the way up.”

            Jack sighed with relief.

            They moved around to the back of the building.  When Jack saw where the fire escape was, he pulled the ladder down, and allowed Helen to climb up first.  When she was on the platform, Jack made his way up and Helen continued her climb.  When Jack reached the platform, he paused to lift the ladder so no company would follow them up.

            With the fire escape secured, Jack made his way up ten stories on the fire escape.

            Six minutes ladder, Jack reached the top.  He took a moment to catch his breath.

            “You tired already?” Helen asked.

            Without answering her question, Jack stepped onto the rooftop.

            “What are we looking for?” he asked.

            Helen walked to the end of the roof opposite from the fire escape.

            “Look out there,” Helen pointed.  “Those lights are the compound.”

            Jack took a pair of binoculars from his backpack and peered towards the city.  There were few lights on, and a few headlights patrolling the streets.  At the upper floors of several of the buildings, Jack could see what looked like rope bridges connecting the buildings.

            “We won’t be able to make the hit tonight, but I want to keep an eye on the compound for a while,” Helen said.  “There’s probably a few patrols going around with their lights off.  They won’t be easy to spot from here.”

            “So what do we do for now?”

            “Keep an eye on them.”

            “What about the others?  When they blow up two buildings in the complex, the militia’s bound to look for us too.”

            “They’re going to be attacking on the other side.  Besides, I don’t think it’ll be possible to carry out two strikes at the same time.  They’ll be flooding every inch of the base unless they catch Sam and the others.”

            “Shit.”

            “The security won’t be so tight in the morning.”

            “Are you sure?”

            “I already said Calhoun is one cocky bastard.”

            Jack continued to watch the night activity on the base.  He wondered if they would be able to slip inside during daylight hours.  It seemed next to impossible.  They knew her face, but she was assumed KIA.  Jack was not one of them, so the cultists would spot him right away.  On the flip side, Jack and Helen would be able to spot any patrols from a distance.

            Jack looked over to Helen, and saw that she had set down her binoculars, and was peering through her rifle scope.

            “If I had a more powerful rifle, I could take out most of the guards before they knew what was going on.”

            “How many do you think are out?” Jack asked.

            “They like to move in groups of twelve, like the apostles.  There’re probably five of those groups out so I’d say sixty.”

            “Scattered around?”

            “Yeah.”

            “What happens when those buildings go down?”

            “Any guards in the area investigate and the ones not around stay on alert.”

            “Has anyone ever attack the cultists’ nest before?”

            “No.”

            “Well this is a first for me too.”

            Helen chuckled.  Her laugh was soft, and melodic.  It was the first time Jack heard Helen laugh, but he wished he could see her face.

            “A virgin,” she said.

            As he felt himself blushing, Jack was glad it was so dark out.

            “Do you know who’s in charge of the guard?” Jack asked.

            “Yeah, should be Daniel Benson.”

            “What do you know about him?”

            “He’s a total loon,” Helen said, “He thinks he’s the angel of doom.”

            “So I take it he buys into the whole messiah thing.”

            “Yeah. The only wild card is his Lieutenant, Randal Lennux.”  Helen took a deep breath.  “He almost has a realistic sense of what’s going on, but he’s more dangerous than the rest.  Lennux wants what Calhoun has.”  She paused again.  “You know,” she seemed to choke for a second, “he tried to rape me once.”

            Her voice strained on the word “tried” and she looked away.  Jack had the feeling that she was holding something back.

            “What?”

            Jack wanted to say something to comfort the girl, but no words came to mind.

            “I think Lennux only wanted me because of Calhoun.  I was chosen to bear the messiah’s seed.  He doesn’t believe in sex, so they were going to use a glass tube to collect the… seed and…”  Helen’s voice trailed off for a second.  “After that Lennux had his eye on me.  Once he caught me alone at night.  I was just coming in from a patrol and he was in my room.  Before I knew it he was lunging for me.  Lucky for me, my knee got a good shot at his crotch, and I was able to get the hell out of there.  That was three weeks ago.”

            Again, Helen’s voice strained towards the end of her story.  Jack eased over, and put his hand on Helen’s shoulder.

*

            Sam led his troops silently through the night.  They had not encountered a single patrol or walking corpse along the way.  Though Helen had said the walk to the compound would be quiet, this was eerie.

            “How far are we?” Paul whispered.

            “About a quarter of a mile,” Sam said.

            A few yards away, Sam heard a thud.  Then there was a scraping noise.  Something moved closer, but Sam could not see it in the shadows.

            “Hold up,” Sam said in a hushed voice.  “Stay real still.”

            Without saying a word, both soldiers did as instructed and searched the shadows.

            After a moment, two figures emerged from a near by alley.  Sam could only make out their forms.  Neither of the ghouls was missing limbs, and they looked sturdy enough to put up a fight.  One had a long object in its hand, possibly a led pipe.

            “Remember,” Sam said, “no guns.  Club ‘em to death.”

            “Got it,” Zach said, fishing a hammer out of his backpack.

            Paul nodded.

            When Zach had the hammer in his grasp, he slung his backpack back over his shoulders, and charged the ghoul who had the pipe.  Paul rushed at the other, pushing it to the ground.  Before the ghoul could try to get up, Sam hit it in the head several times with the butt of his rifle.

            Zach was still working on his zombie.  The ghoul had taken a clumsy swing, but Zach had ducked under the blow, and was now behind the ghoul.  Before the creature could turn around, Zach swung the hammer, and smacked the ghoul in the back of the head.  The zombie corpse collapsed, and Zach rushed down on top of the body.  Zach must have pounded the fallen zombie’s skull fifteen times before he finally stood up.

            “Fell better?” Sam asked.

            “Much, thanks.”

            “Let’s move then.  The sooner we get there, the sooner we can go home.”

            On Sam’s command, the soldiers continued to move toward the compound.

            They moved in silence, past the abandoned houses, shops, and town homes.  Other than the two they had just vanquished, there were no zombies roaming the night.  There were no angry cultists either.  Just silence and the three troops sneaking into the base.

            When they reached the border, Sam paused and his troops hung behind.

            A few yards ahead, Sam heard the quiet rumble of engines.  There must have been a patrol near by with its lights off.  They would have been impossible to spot from the distance, but in the open the motorized patrols were very conspicuous.  The trespassers on the other hand, would be invisible as long as they stayed in the shadows.

            “They don’t have their headlights on.  Stay low and they shouldn’t spot you,” Sam instructed.

            He turned his attention to Paul.

            “Paul, you know the place.  You’re in the lead,” Sam said.

            Paul nodded.

            Before they left, Paul had made damn sure to memorize the map Helen had given them.

            After a few moments the engines passed, and rounded a corner.  When the patrol was safely out of sight, Paul dashed from one tall dark building to another.  Hardly any lights were on, so finding cover was no problem.  The compound itself was fairly dense with structures, so they would not have any problem finding shade.  As long as they were not stopped, they were fine.

            When Paul reached the building, Sam and Zach both ran as fast as they could to Paul’s position.

            “Most of the buildings here are empty, so we shouldn’t have to worry about anyone turning on lights,” Paul said.  “This way.”

            The unit made its way through the dark streets with only the moonlight to guide them.  A few windows in the distance illuminated a yellow glow, but the town was pretty much black.  Sam wondered if the villagers always went to bed this early.

            More engines roared in the distance, but they were not growing closer, so the trespassers moved on.

            The rest of the colony was much of the same.  The lights were all out and the masses were asleep.  There were a few foot patrols on the inside of the complex, but nothing major.  None of the cultists came close to spotting the intruders.

            After fifteen minutes of lurking in the shadows, Paul pointed to two structures ahead.

            “The armory,” he said.

            There were lights on in the second, third, and sixth floors of both buildings.  The intruders would have to enter through the second floor, and blow the ammunition stalks on the lower floors.  They would also have to take out a few key pillars, but the buildings were in such questionable condition that they would probably go down with one charge.  One was eight stories and the other was ten.  All of the extra weight on top of the explosion would not help the structure at all.

            “There should only be a few guards inside.  The armories are not manned,” Paul said.

            “Good, that should mean minimal hassle,” Sam said. “Get the guards from behind, and knife them in the throat.”

            “Got it,” Zach said.

            Paul nodded.

            “I want the timers on the charges set for fifteen minutes.  That way we have some time to get out of here before they have a chance to look,” Sam said.

            While Sam’s team was safely fleeing, Helen and Jack would be preparing their attack, whenever they were planning to pull it off.

            No guards patrolled the outside of the buildings, so Sam assumed they were all inside.  Since there were no patrols near the intruders’ position, it was safe to move.  Sam led the way, and Zach took the rear as the three soldiers silently charged the armory.

            When they were all under the fire escape, Sam looked around to make sure nobody was watching.  After a moment, Sam reached up for the fire escape.  As he slid the ladder down, the metal squeaked, but the noise was barely audible.

            Sam made his way up first.

            The second story was barely lit.  The glow came from several electric lanterns strung from room to room.  They offered just enough light for any guards to see any intruders, and for any intruders to place explosives just about anywhere they pleased.  The room where Sam stood had been painted white from ceiling to floor.  There was no furniture, and the door was missing.  Perhaps this was to minimize hiding places.

            Without waiting for the other two troops to follow, Sam moved to the door to make sure no guards were approaching.

            The hall was dead inside.  There was a string of lanterns offering a dim glow, but there were no guards marching with rifles slung over their shoulders.  The halls were also painted white, just like the room.  Sam suspected that the whole interior of the armory was an industrial white.

            When Sam heard both of his troops enter, he drew his knife, and said “come on I want to get this over with.”

            His loyal soldiers followed Sam into the hall.

            They moved through the white hall for a minute before imperial footsteps killed the silence. Sam motioned his troops to take cover in a room behind their position.  Sam took the doorway just ahead, on the other side of the hall.  Crouching low, and out of the doorway as not to be seen, Sam waited for the guards to pass.

            Not long after, two imposing figures strolled past the doorway, wearing black uniforms with skull patches on their shoulders.  Both guards had their rifles slung over their shoulders.  The rifles were Winchester hunting rifles, nothing compared to Sam’s M-16.

            When the soldiers passed, Sam sprung out of his hiding place like a demented Jack in the Box, and grabbed the closer of the two guards from behind with one hand.  With the other, Sam slit the guard’s throat.  Blood spurted from the guard’s neck and he gurgled for a second.  When he dropped the convulsing body, it hit the ground hard.

            The other guard turned around and said: “What the hell?”

            Sam moved in with the knife and tried to nail the guard between the ribs, but he was too slow.  The surviving guard landed a fist in Sam’s temple.

            Sam’s head felt like it was going to explode.  Before he could recover, the other fist landed firmly on the left side of Sam’s rib cage.  Then the first fist landed in Sam’s head again.

            That time he went down.

            Sam hit the floor on his belly, and when he rolled over, he could see the guard unslinging his rifle.  Sam moved his legs quickly to sweep his attack, but that was not necessary.

            Before Sam could swing his legs, guard cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

            When the guard fell, Sam could see Zach standing triumphantly over the body with a bloody knife in his hand.  The boy quickly knelt down by the corpse and drove his blade into the fallen guard’s skull.

            “Come on, we don’t want them coming back to life on us,” the boy said.

            Sam moved over the guard he had killed and arced his arm in the air, only to realize the knife was gone.  Sam must have dropped it when he fell.  Sam felt around the floor, but recovered the knife quickly, and stabbed the fallen guard in the temple twice for good measure.

            “Okay, let’s find the stockpile and get out of here,” Sam said.

            Without encountering any more trouble, the trio moved through the hallway in silence.  As they passed the stairway, which lead to the upper floors, the saboteurs were extra cautious.  They did not hear any footsteps moving downward, so the trio quickened their pace.

            At the end of the hallway, Sam saw a doorway that looked promising.  Through the doorway, Sam could see that the room inside was darker than the others.  Instead of a white paint job, the inside was painted gray.

            As the distance between Sam and the doorway closed, Sam could see several gray tarps over boxes.  Inside, there must have been a shit load of munitions.

            “Looks like we’ve found our stockpile,” Sam said.

            Paul nodded, and followed Sam inside of the doorway, Zach watched the hall.

            “Alright, let’s see what’s what here,” Sam said.

            He began yanking the tarps off of the wooden crates one by one.  Under one tarp, there was a box of grenades, another was covering rifles, and the one next to it covered ammunition.  Another covered what must have been fifty pounds of plastic explosives, which might have been powerful enough to take out the building by themselves right there.

            Sam grinned.

            “Place the charge here,” Sam said.

            On Sam’s instruction, Paul placed the C4 charge on the box of explosives, and set the timer.

            “Let’s move,” Sam said.

            With both haste and caution, the soldiers moved down the hallway, and back to the fire escape.  On the way, they stepped over the two dead guards, and kept moving until they reached the exit.  They made their way down the fire escape in record time.

            “Okay,” Sam said.  “It’s been about a minute, set two more charges for fourteen and place them on each corner.”

            Sam figured the lack of support on one side, plus forty pounds of plastic explosives would wreck the building.

            When the charges were set, Sam and his demolition crew moved to the second building.

*

            “They’re probably inside by now,” Helen said.  “I don’t want to be stuck on top of a building if they send a search party this way.”

            “What?”

            “I think it would be a lot better if we were ready to move.”

            Jack looked frustrated.  He clearly did not want to leave his friends behind, but that was what the situation called for. Calhoun stayed inside most of the time, so the shot would be almost impossible to get.  During the day time, Calhoun could often be found in a main chamber with a great view in all directions, perfect for the attack.

            Helen was only just outside of the compound to make sure the first attack happened.  If the armories were not destroyed, then their whole plan would have to adapt.  They would have to blow the armories and assassinate Calhoun at the same time, and that would be impossible times two.

            Helen led the way to the fire escape, not pausing to see if Jack followed.  She quickly made her way down toward the street.  At times, instead of walking down the steps, or climbing down ladders, Helen would simply jump.  In perhaps less than a minute, Helen had reached the pavement.

            From a crouching position, with her hands and knees on the pavement, Helen looked up.  Jack was three floors up, trying to make Helen’s pace, but only stumbling and bumbling downward.  When he reached the second floor, Jack looked like he was going to fall, but grabbed a metal railing.

            Helen stood up and crossed her arms.  When Jack was safely on the ground, she walked over to greet him.

            When he landed, Jack had lost his balance, and was now flat on his back.  He groaned.

            “You do that often?” Jack asked.

            “I take it you don’t,” Helen replied, “Come on, we have to move.”

            She extended her arm to help Jack to his feet.

            “Thanks,” Jack said.

            When Jack was on his feet, Helen said, “We’ll be able to hear the explosions from the car.  As soon as the bombs go off, I’m for getting the hell out of here.”

            Though what she had said was true, Helen wanted to get the hell out of there now.  Helen had originally planned to stay on the roof, and watch the bombs go off, but there was a creeping feeling in her gut.

            What if they look for us?

            If there was a patrol, the roof was the worst place to be.  She and Jack would not be seen right away.  They would be able to hide for a few hours, but if the patrol spotted the mustang, Helen and Jack would be trapped.  If there was a patrol, the only option Helen and Jack would have was to get out of there quicker than a bat out of Hell.

            When they reached the Mustang, Helen said, “Let’s just sit in here with the windows down.  We’ll hear it from here.”

            “Okay,” Jack said with skepticism in his voice.

            Helen slipped the key into the ignition and they waited.

*

            Lennux watched the outside of the armory for any motion.  A scout had spotted three figures in the shadows of one armory.  Then move into the other.  The figures could have been guards, but guards had no reason to leave their post and sneak into another.  More likely, the heathens who had slaughtered the patrol last night were now attacking the compound.

            Well if that was the case, these heathens were about to deal with real power.  In the minute and a half since Lennux had received the transmission, thirty troops had gathered, in the shadows around the building, all with automatic weapons.  The troops were laying in wait like serpents, waiting to strike.

            They were a powerful army of serpents, led by a Judas who would soon be a god.

*

            “Let’s get the hell out of here before anyone sees us,” Sam said after planting the last bomb.

            The inside of the second armory looked the same as the first.  The storage rooms were gray and the rest of the building was painted white.  There had been no guards patrolling on this floor, so Sam was more careful as he moved through the hallway.

            As they passed a stairwell, Sam paused for a moment.  When there were no voices, the trio continued to move to the exit.  When they reached the window, Sam covered the doorway, Zach moved out first and Paul followed.  When they were both on the ground, Sam quickly made his way down.

            The first timers were set to fifteen minutes, and Sam figured they had taken five minutes in the second armory, so the timers had been set to ten.  They probably took a minute to get out, so Sam set the two bombs on the outside to nine minutes, which should be enough to get them out of there.

            With their work finished, it was time to go, but there was a problem.  As soon as the trespassers moved away from the armory, several lights pierced the night, and pinpointed their position.

            “Shit,” Sam said.  “We’ve been made!”

            Before he could finish his sentence, gunfire erupted.

            Without thinking, Sam ducked behind the armory.  Zach followed, but Paul was slow.  Paul began his dive, but before he could get anywhere, a bullet struck him low in the leg.  Still in the middle of his dive, Paul hit the ground behind the armory, legs still out in the open.  Sam raced over, and pulled his comrade to safety, behind the building that was rigged to explode in only a few minutes.

            “Paul, can you walk?” Sam asked.

            “I think so,” the wounded soldier said.

            “Good ‘cause we gotta move, and I mean five minutes ago.”

            Without instruction, Zach made it to his feet, and aimed his rifle and shotgun towards the light.

            “I’ll cover the rear,” Zach said.

            Sam helped Paul to his feet, and the three soldiers ran behind the next building.  There were no lights coming from the western end, so they had the temporary cover of darkness.

            Before they made it behind the next building, Sam could hear engines and shouting.  The headlights were moving closer to the intruders’ current position, but the guards had not reacquired their target yet.  To make matters worse, Paul’s injury was slowing the trio down.  The boy could still run, but not very fast.  Judging from the labored breathing, the retreat hurt like hell.

            “Let’s stay out of the streets.  I don’t want any cars chasing us down,” Sam said.  “They might catch us, but let’s make ‘em work for it.”

            More shots rang out, and Sam could hear more shooting even closer.  He looked back to see Zach returning fire.

            “This way,” Sam shouted, and moved into a dark alley.

            “You sure this isn’t a dead end?” Zach asked.

            “No.”

            “Great.”

            “We could use the cover inside of the building,” Sam said.  “We can always move out of another exit if they don’t see us go in.”

            Sam pulled down the fire escape ladder, and made his way up.  From the top, he helped Paul up, and Zach followed.

            “Hopefully this one’s empty,” Sam said.

            Helen had told them that most of the buildings were sealed off and vacant, so there was a good chance they might be able to hide for a moment.

            Not likely.

            The inside of the building was dark, and there was no movement or noise coming from the inside.  The floor creaked under their feet, and did not seem very stable.  As their feet shuffled across the floor, dust flew and seemed to swarm the intruders like a hive of bee’s defending their territory.

            Zach sneezed.  Paul moaned in pain.  Sam stopped himself from coughing.

            Outside, engines died and people were shouting.  The noises were not moving at all.  Maybe this hadn’t been the greatest idea in the world.

            “Come on,” Sam said.

            He led his troops to the stairs, and moved upward.  All he could think to do was move upward, into the dead end of the rooftop.  It seemed the best the intruders could hope for now was to kill as many of the cultist assholes as they could before eating bullets.

            While running up the third floor, Sam heard footsteps below.

            “Come on, let’s double time it,” Sam said.

            “I know, I know,” Paul said.

            The footsteps below were moving a lot faster than Sam and his two soldiers, so when they reached the sixth floor, Sam led his troops into a hallway.

            “Maybe we can make it to a ledge or a fire escape,” Paul said.

            “No good.  They’re just going to spot us,” Sam said.

            “So there’s no use in running,” Zach said.

            More voices sounded, not even halfway down the fifth floor, and more gunfire erupted.  Splinters exploded off of door frames, walls, and the ceiling as shells struck with lethal force.

            “Fuck you!” Zach shouted and returned fire with his M-16.

            “Grenades,” Sam said.

            Before Zach got the message, Sam pulled out two grenades, and removed the pins.  With a nice underhand wind up, Sam lobbed both grenades down the stairs, at the attackers.  When he saw the grenades rolled down, Zach ducked behind a door frame.  Sam pushed Paul into a room on the other side of the hallway.

            Seconds later, the explosions rocked the lower floor, and the gunfire stopped.

            “Zach, you okay?” Sam asked.

            “Never better!  You?” Zach replied.

            “Great.  Paul?”

            “My leg is killing me,” Paul said.

            At least the boys still had their humor.

            “Zach, hold your position at the stairs.  I’m going to scout around.”

            “You’re the boss.”

            “Paul, give Zach cover if he needs it.”

            Sam wanted to see if there was any other way the cultists could get inside.  There was bound to be at least two fire escapes on this floor.

            Within seconds of each other, four thunderous explosions rocked the night.  Sam could not see the effect, but he knew their mission had been a success.  The armories were both destroyed.  Now all he had to worry about was sealing off this damn floor.

*

            Zach continued to hold his post at the stairs, while Sam scouted the area.  There was still some movement below, but the enemy had grown more cautious.  They did not want more grenades to roll down those steps, but Zach was ready and more than willing to give the bastards more hell.

            There were more footsteps, and muffled voices below.  Two sets of footsteps rushed up the stairs.

            Before they could get halfway up, Zach moved closer, and opened fire with his shotgun.  The pellets hit one soldier fatally in the chest.  The other cultist was injured.  Two more soldiers fired up the stair case, and Zach returned fire with his rifle.  Since he did not want to waste grenades, Zach did not roll any down right away, but waited for more troops to emerge.

            The two gunmen opened fire again, so Zach backed away from the stairs, and bent into a crouching position.  If any other cultists tried to rush the stairs, Zach could blast them at the top.  If more came, he still had grenades, and Zach wanted to use them.

            More gunfire sounded, but this time it was from behind.  Zach looked back in time to see Sam backing away from a doorway, blasting hell at something on the other side.

            “Shit, shit, shit, shit…” Sam yelled.

            Several troops began rushing up the stairwell Zach was guarding, so he grabbed one grenade, pulled the pin, and hurled it at the horde.  After the toss, Zach ducked low, and opened fire.

            Behind, Paul opened fire at the room Sam was attacking.

            “This way,” Sam shouted.  “Move!”

            Sam helped Paul to his feet, and moved with the injured soldier to a room at the end of the hall.  Zach followed.  Behind, Sam was still firing at the doorway, giving Zach cover.  Zach continued to fire at the stairway.  When his rifle clicked empty, Zach began pumping fury from his Remington.

            Two gunmen made their way to the top of the stairs, but stayed low.  Instead of blindly charging into danger, they crouched at the top of the stairs, and opened fire.  Zach tried to duck out of the way, but he was hit.  Zach felt something strike him.  A hot pain pierced his concentration, and he screamed out.  Pumped with adrenaline, and running on reflex, Zach threw himself into the nearest doorway, and lay down on his back.

            “ZACH!” Sam shouted.

            “Get the fuck out of here,” Zach yelled back.

            The yelling hurt and Zach was short of breath.  Taking in air seemed like a chore.  Zach looked down, and saw blood leaking out of a wound in his stomach.  Another bullet had pierced his shoulder, and Zach could not feel his legs.  In his fall, Zach had dropped his rifle and shotgun.  Miraculously, Zach could still move both of his arms, but standing was out of the question, so Zach pulled out two pistols, and aimed at the doorway.

            The gunfire ceased, and the floor creaked.  A shapeless and shadowy form emerged in the doorway.

            Without waiting another moment, Zach twitched his trigger fired three bullets at the cultist.  At least one of the bullets hit its target in the head.  Before the fallen solder hit the floor, two more soldiers appeared in the doorway.

            Zach fired again and again, injuring one soldier.  The other, a large bearish figure aimed a rifle at Zach’s face.  Before Zach could fire his pistols again, the gorilla fired.

            In an instant, the world was gone.

*

            Lennux fired a burst from his automatic rifle, splattering the vermin’s gray matter all over the floor.  Had there been any light in the room, it would have made quite the spectacle.

            What a shame.

            Lennux fired his rifle again, this time at the dead heathen’s chest.  Again, he fired at the stomach, and again at the arms and legs.  Lennux wanted to see how much damage he could do to the corpse before it was displayed at the compound’s perimeter on a spike.  If there were any other vermin, they should see what happened to their comrade.

            Two of Lennux’s flock tried to run ahead, but Lennux stopped them with his arm.

             “I want the other two alive,” Lennux said, then let the two soldiers go.  Lennux turned his gaze to the injured soldier on the floor.  “Oh it can’t be that bad.  Make yourself useful.”

            The injured drone climbed to his feet, and ran ahead just like a good little soldier.  After five deaths, and two major injuries, there were only five troops left inside of the building, plus one mean Judas.  The rest of the soldiers were watching every exit.

            None of Lennux’s drones had spotted any figures moving to the stairs, and there was no gunfire outside, so unless the vermin had climbed up on a fire escape, or trapped themselves on a ledge, they were still hiding on this floor somewhere.  Without doors and furniture, the heathens had no place to hide.

            Careful not to catch the business end of a last ditch assault, Lennux placed himself in the middle of the unit.  If the attack came from the front, he would have three human shields.  If the assault came from behind, the two suckers behind him would bit bullets first.

            They had passed three doors before the company halted.  On the left side of the hallway, one of the solders heard something.

            “You, move on ahead of the doorway,” Lennux ordered the drone in front.  To the two others in front: “you two, cover this side.”  Lennux looked behind, and said, “Go in through the window if they try anything.”

            The soldiers in back sprinted into the room behind their position.

            “Alright, we have them trapped,” Lennux said.  “Time to finish this.”

            The two uninjured soldiers guarding the doorway aimed their rifles inside.

            Lennux shouted, “Come out with your hands up and we won’t hurt you.”

            There was no answer.  Lennux repeated his order again and there was still no answer.  Lennux eased his way to the open doorway, and took a peek inside.

            Sure enough, there were two armed soldiers.  One was on the floor with his back propped against the wall.  He was aiming a rifle at the doorway.  The other solder was standing.  There was something in his hand, but Lennux could not make out what it was.  However, it was rather peculiar that these two solders were not shooting at their attackers.

            Lennux took a step forward.

            “Nuh-uh.  I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the standing heathen said.

            Lennux froze in his tracks.

            “Make one more move, and it’ll get messy.”

            “This is your last chance to surrender.”

            “Perhaps you didn’t notice the grenade in my hand.  When I pull the pin, you’ll change your tune.”

            “Hold your position.”

            Lennux wondered if his fear was audible.  This mother fucker was nuts.  The psychotic heathen obviously did not want to be taken alive, which was all the more reason for Lennux to capture him.

            The troops at the door halted, but kept their aim on their quarry, and waited for the two shadows to make a fatal mistake.

            Lennux was careful to step back, into the hallway.  The grenade which had exploded in the stairwell was just a low powered anti-personnel device, so it was not likely to bring the ceiling down on their heads.  If Lennux could get a wall between himself and the explosion, he would be okay.  He was careful not to step into the room, because the heathens would just love to take out a high ranking officer.  That was one satisfaction, he was certain to deny those rats.

            “Just put the grenade down,” Lennux said.  “You don’t want to kill yourself do you?”

            “Why don’t you come in here and find out?” the rat with the grenade said.  “We all die anyway.”

            Was this fucker serious?  Lennux gritted his teeth, and resisted the urge to charge in there and strangle the bastard.  He had to be cold and calculating, like a snake.  The heathens had no way out, so all Lennux had to do was wait.  Something would happen.

            Still holding the grenade over his head, the crazy asshole stepped to the right, closer to the doorway.  Lennux almost fired his rifle, to deliver a head shot, but he wanted to break the rat.  He wanted to spend hours in a dark room with the psycho.  Lennux wanted to stand over the heathen and laugh as he begged for death.

            Randal Lennux grinned at the thought.

            A shadow moved across the window, startling Lennux, but he didn’t jump.  He stood there like stone.  The troops on the ledge!  Lennux had forgotten about the troops on the ledge.  If the suicidal lunatics did not see the troops in the window, then there might be some hope.  As long as the men outside did not fuck it up.

            A shot rang out and the window shattered, along with the tension in the room.

            Shit! Lennux thought.

            Lennux almost leaped further from the doorway, but before he could, a miracle happened.  The lunatic dropped his grenade, and fell to his knees, clutching the left side of his face.

            The soldiers at the window stumbled inside, and the soldiers by Lennux’s side joined them.

            “I want them both alive,” Lennux shouted.

            The wounded rat opened fire at the doorway.  The soldier to Lennux’s right fell over, and hit the ground dead.  The soldier to his left fired his rifle, hitting the heathen in the shoulder.

            One of Lennux’s soldiers retrieved the grenade, which had rolled to the corner of the room.  The heathen who had threatened them with the explosive reached into his pocket for something else, but Lennux was faster.  With the fury of a god, Lennux slammed the butt of his rifle into the rat’s face.

            “You pitiful worm!” Lennux shouted, and grabbed the heathen by the collar.

            With more rage, Lennux slammed his fist into the heathen’s ribs.  He took another swing, making contact with his victim’s face.  He swung to the same place again, and again.  The heathen tried to fight back, but Lennux was stronger.

            Lennux lifted the heathen off of his feet, and slammed him against the wall, nearly tossing the scum out of the window.

            Letting his rage cool, Lennux dropped the heathen, who crumpled to the floor.  With some fire left inside, Lennux spat on the broken worm, who looked up at him with an inhuman anger.

            “We’re gonna have a lot of fun together,” Lennux said.

            “Get your laughs while you can,” the rat said, “’cause you won’t be able to while your throat’s being cut.”

            Lennux kicked him in the ribs again.

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